Ultramarine

SMEGMA – ‘Ever And Anon’ LP
The mythical LAFMS collective Smegma really needs to introduction, where would we all be without them? How many bands were so ahead of their time (1973!), and have been for so long, like Smegma have? Well, here they are with a brand new LP of their famous mix of free jazz, industrial noise, improvisation, straight-up weird music so typical of these masters / US freaks. On the opening track, they are riding on the amazing drums of historical member Dennis Duck (of Dream Syndicate) and Oblivia’s trademark vinyl samples to pay homage to their beloved Link Wray with some devilish surf music! Then get ready for some crazy reeds, Aylerian invocations, electro-acoustic meditations, (shrink) chamber music and moments of pure avantgarde, juxtapositions that only they can get away with: a riot in a farm, strange strings riding the waves, Ju Suk’s guitar riffs and slides with the seagulls, a bat party in a cave, a hot bath of analog synth bubbles… but simply put, Smegma sounds like nobody else! Cover artwork collage by Ace Farren Ford. Also comes with an insert. Edition of 300 copies.
    
GATE – ‘Damned Revolutions’ LP
Dead C guitarist Michael Morley is finally back with a new Gate LP, after two years, and what a comeback! “Damned Revolutions” has all the traits of Gate’s classic LPs like “Guitar” and “The Monolake”: it starts with dark and fuzzy guitar drones, that build up to create a dense wall of distorted resonance, at times accompanied by sparse electronics and sustained by spectral beats and bass pulses. When vocals break in, it’s magical and poetic, his moaning reminiscent of pre-war blues chants. Side B is a wonderful suite of free rock improvisation, wild noise, echoed vocals, a thick guitar fog, haunting nocturnal blues, cymbal crashes… a mood perfectly depicted on the cover photos, lonely, grey, apparently still, sunless port city landscape. Edition of 300 copies.
    
BeNe GeSSeRiT – ‘Still Insane After All These Years’ LP
Eleven new & previously unreleased songs from BeNe GeSSeRiT, the cult Belgian minimal synth duo of Alain Neffe (various instruments including synth, beats, loops, strings…) and Nadine Bal (vocals). Alain started his Insane Music imprint back in 1981, he is a key figure of the European cassette culture and has been making some of the most creative and cross-boundary music since the early 80’s, also with other numerous projects like Pseudo Code, Human Flesh and more recently, his and Nadine’s duo with singer Anna Homler, The Chopstick Sisters. The duo’s debut LP in 1985 “A High, Happy, Perverse And Cynical Cry of Joy” was a real gem and on this new album, they go back to their roots but take advantage of newer technologies and sonic textures – every song has a life of its own. Alain’s arrangements are impeccable and unpredictable, a mad variety of instruments and moods, punchy beats, hypnotic strings, groovy organ, crazy sax lines and an inventive use of sound shaping… at some point you’ll be in the middle of… a choir of frogs??! Nadine, on the other hand, is a muse of this and the OTHER world, she manages to sound like an angel, a child, a siren and an alien, often all in the same track. Our prescription is: listen to this LP over and over for best results, you will discover and feel something new at every listen. BeNe GeSSeRiT make truly charming and personal music that’s hard to pin down: too weird to be classified as pop, but not so much to be just avantgarde, surreal & emotional, sharing the aesthetic choices of Anne Clark, Roberto Cacciapaglia, Laurie Anderson, Kraftwerk, Die Form… Glossy full color covers with insane artwork by Alain Neffe. Edition of only 300 copies, of which 50 are colored vinyl (25 orange / 25 pink).

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